WEEE AND ELV | INNOVATION


plant for e-waste in the country with Immark at its site in Regensdorf. The new facility significantly increases the site’s processing capacity and is the first e-waste sorting plant to use a Stadler STT5000 ballistic separator which pre-sorts material into fines, flat plastics, and cables, as well as cube- shaped material such as electronic motors. The new sorting plant receives materials in WEEE Directive Groups 1-3 (Household Appliances and IT Equipment) and 4 (Consumer Equipment), which are processed in several different modules. In the first module, the infeed material is manually sorted to remove hazardous components, as well as valuable materials such as cables and printed circuit boards. Once the hazardous components have been removed, the material is crushed so the various recyclable materials can be sorted. This is achieved through use of magnetic technology, eddy current separation, and sensor sorting. According to the WEEE Forum, the umbrella


grouping of producer responsibility organisations, 5.3bn mobile phones were discarded in 2022 alone. In the Netherlands, a new project at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam involves Dutch airport electronics retailer Capi joining forces with Re- newd, a Utrecht-based supplier of certified pre-owned equipment, to offer travellers an environmentally friendly alternative to buying new electronics whereby they can trade in their old smartphones for cash. Capi has more than 50 stores at 21 airports worldwide, and the two companies have already signed a deal to replicate the arrangement at other airports. “The WEEE Forum is at the forefront of turning the


extended producer responsibility principle into an effective electronic waste management policy approach through our combined knowledge of all management aspects of collection, logistics, de-pol- lution, processing, preparing for reuse and reporting of e-waste,” said Director General Pascal Leroy.


Investments Coolrec is investing in a new electrostatic separation line at its location in Waalwijk, the Netherlands. The new separator, the result of a collaboration with manufacturer Hamos, separates mixed waste streams such as paper, wood fibres, or pieces of rubber from the plastic streams. The plastics are then sorted by type. Ramon Bongers, plastics manager at Coolrec, said, “With this expansion, Coolrec can produce a very high-quality flake, and as a result, we will also produce an even better and more stable PS and ABS granulate in the next phase.” In November 2023, the revised Renewable


Energy Directive entered into force with the aim of www.plasticsrecyclingworld.com


The Plast2bCleaned project investigated recycling of WEEE plastics with flame retardant additives


Plast2bCleaned shows results from project


The five-year, EU-funded Plast2bCleaned project has concluded, with results presented at workshop events earlier this year. The project was launched to address the recycling of the common WEEE plastics ABS and high impact PS, which can contain up to 20wt% brominated flame retardants (BFR) and up to 5wt% of the synergist antimony trioxide (ATO). Among the results, it discussed the use of a dissolution process, highlighting the advantages of using a low boiling point, single solvent system and adding suitable separation steps for the effective separation and recovery of the additives. In a programme involving Electrolux, 23 washing machine door frames were produced from material recompounded at Elix Polymers incorpo- rating 30% recycled ABS.


increasing the share of renewables in the EU’s overall energy consumption to 42.5% by 2030. This means the production of solar photovoltaic (PV) equipment needs to increase dramatically, and there will be an inevitable transition as the first generation of PV panels reach their end of life. Soren, a new member of the WEEE Forum, acts as the govern- ment-approved eco-organisation for the collection and processing of used PV panels in France. The disposal of PV panels is clearly a growing


concern. Earlier this year, Müller-Guttenbrunn Group (MGG) acquired a stake in Austrian start-up 2nd Cycle which aims to develop an automated upcycling system for used PV modules. The system will check modules and analyse which parts are still functional, then decide which modules need to be recycled. Here is where MGG comes in, as it has been working for some time on how to separate and recycle non-reusable PV modules. The com- pany says it sees huge potential in this area. Around three million PV collectors are installed


July/August 2024 | PLASTICS RECYCLING WORLD 51


IMAGE: PLAST2BCLEANED


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